For the transgression of a land many [are] the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding [and] knowledge the state [thereof] shall be prolonged.
Ver. 2. For the transgression of a land, many are the princes.] Either many at once, or many ejecting and succeeding one another, to the great calamity and utter undoing of the people, as may be seen in the books of Judges and Kings, as in the Roman state after Nero's death, by the succession of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. What a deal of trouble was here in the time of the heptarchy! a and in the dissensions of the two houses of York and Lancaster! causing the death of twice as many natives of England as were lost in the two conquests of France, besides eighty princes of the blood-royal slain. b And all this is said to be "for the transgression of a land," thus chastised by the Lord. Elihu tells Job that the hypocrite is set to reign for the people's sin; Job 34:30 Lev 26:17 it is threatened as a heavy curse: "If ye still trespass against me, I will set princes over you that shall hate you"; mischievous, odious princes, odious to God, malignant to the people. And, Isa 3:4 "I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." How many kings had the ten tribes after their defection from the house of David, and not one good one among them all! And what got most of the Roman Caesars by their hasty honours nisi ut citius interficerentur, saith one, but to be slain the sooner! Very few of them till Constantine but died unnatural deaths. "If ye do wickedly, ye shall perish, both you and your king." 1Sa 12:25
But by a man of understanding and knowledge.] As "one sinner may destroy much good," Ecc 9:18 so by one excellently wise man - called here a man of understanding knowledge; there is no copulative in the original - the state may be prolonged; there may be a lengthening of its tranquillity; it may be "delivered by the pureness of thine hands." Job 22:30 2Sa 20:16-22 Ecclesiastes 9:13,16 Jer 5:1 Religious and prudent princes especially may do much in this case. 2Ki 22:20
a A government by seven rulers
b Daniel's History, 249.